Then and Now
Have you ever stopped to think of how much changes within a year? Really though, have you? Think about how much your life has changed since this moment last year. I’m willing to wager that if you sit and think for a moment, you’ll be amazed at how different your life is now compared to what it was then.
Off the top of my, I can give you several major and minor things that have changed in my life
I got married
I reconnected with old friends
I got baptized into my church
I got promoted
My cat died
I watched many of my friends get married
My Dad got a new liver
I wore out two pairs of work shoes
Steve changed jobs
I had a miscarriage and surgery
I started writing my blog
I learned to eat and like beans other than a green bean
However, the biggest change is this…
Brace yourself. If you are having an emotional day or your hormones are out of hand, you may get teary. I’m just trying to give you a fair warning of what you’re in for…
THEN…
NOW…
Can you believe how much has changed in this tiny person in just one year? One of the things that really gets me is how much her hands have changed. In the first picture she has chubby little baby hands, and in the second picture her hands are slender and feminine.
I in no way planned this photo comparison. It all happened by chance.
Last Friday, Moanna and I spent the day on the Blue Ridge Parkway with my Mom and Grandma Pam. It was a girls’ day of generations indeed. We stopped at Indian Gap because Grandma had never been. While we were checking the place out, I realized that it had been almost exactly a year since Steve and I took Moanna to Indian Gap for the first time. Mo was exploring the giant rocks when she stopped for a moment, put both hands on the rock and looked up. I had an immediate flash back to taking the same exact picture a year ago. I’m telling you, these two pictures are only off by about a week.
I’m taken back by how much Moanna has changed in the past year. I’m also humbled by the way life presents us with these moments of quiet amazement and reflection.
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I think about this all the time! I feel like it is more poignant for parents (especially parents with very young children!). Last year at this time my older daughter was only 8 months old, just starting to crawl and talk and now she is running and speaking in full sentences. Last year at this time I had just discovered that I was pregnant again, and now I have a four month old! So many changes in those first few years of a child’s life!
that is so cool! i hadn’t really thought about how short one year is and yet how vastly your life can change, and how much you can change. i look at myself a year ago and in many ways i think i’m a very different person.
My “baby” got married this year
Oh boy, do I have wrinkles that I didn’t have last year (lol)
My bones are rustier than they were last year (baby size lol)
This summer went by faster than last summer did….wait, we didn’t even have a
summer this year, did we?
The loss of friends whom we’ve buried that were around the year before
The older we get, the less we notice change. We aren’t alert enough (BIG LOL)
That day we spent on the parkway was one of the best I’ve had in memory. I loved the time we spent together, doing nothing special but enjoying our magnificent outdoors. Collecting leaves and just enjoying Moanna discover and sharing my love of the Blue Ridge with my family. It is really my favorite thing to do and with my very favorite people. Nothing gives me more joy. Moanna will continue to amaze you. Prejudice aside, I think she is an amazing child. Her personality, incredible intelligence and zest for exploring and learning is such a joy to watch. She makes my life so fulfilled. I thank God for her every day.
Grandma